Search Climate Insights Directory

The IAAT project aims to support 431,700 direct beneficiaries in Mali by promoting Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) and agroforestry. The initiative focuses on improving extension services, developing inclusive value chains, and deploying low-carbon technologies such as solar irrigation and biodigesters. It targets a total GHG emission reduction of 2,446,543 tCO2eq over 15 years and the planting of 91,285 hectares of agroforestry trees. The project is implemented by Save the Children in collaboration with the Government of Mali, leveraging a Locally Led Adaptation (LLA) approach and synergies with the USAID-funded Albarka project.

The proposed programme seeks USD 9,960,000 from the Green Climate Fund to scale up a Decentralised Climate Finance (DCF) model in Mali's Mopti region. It aims to benefit 720,000 people by establishing Local Adaptation Planning Committees (LAPCs) that identify and manage community-led investments. The funding is divided into three main investment windows: climate-resilient agriculture (50% of grants), livestock-based economies (10%), and drinking water for marginalised women (24%), with the remaining 14% dedicated to programme management and technical assistance.

The report identifies Mali as highly vulnerable to environmental and climatic stresses, particularly droughts and floods, which exacerbate poverty and food insecurity. It highlights that vulnerability is shaped by regional disparities, social hierarchies, and health crises like HIV/AIDS. Environmental degradation, driven by deforestation and unsustainable agricultural expansion (especially cotton), further reduces the resilience of rural populations. The document argues for integrated strategies to reduce vulnerability, focusing on income diversification, improved water and sanitation, and targeted support for the most marginalized groups, including women and children.

The report identifies critical stresses on biodiversity, food and fibre provision, water supply, and fuel provision across Mali, linking these ecological declines to threats in human nourishment, water access, energy, and livelihoods. It highlights the southern regions of Sikasso, Mopti, and Segou as high-priority areas due to the convergence of high population density, poverty, and deteriorating ecosystem services.

The document examines the management of the Samori forest in Baye, Mali, analyzing the roles of the state, the NGO SOS Sahel GB, and local communities. It concludes that while technical capacities have improved, the management is not 'democratic' because power remains centralized with the state and the NGO, with no downward accountability to local populations.

The research examines forest management in Baye Commune, Mali, focusing on the Samori Forest. It analyzes three management systems: a neo-traditional approach led by the NGO SOS Sahel, state-led management via the National Department of Nature Conservation, and the emerging but currently powerless Commune Council. The author concludes that none of these systems are 'democratic' because they lack downward accountability and real decision-making power for local populations. While SOS Sahel has improved technical capacities, its 'provoked participation' model remains dependent on the NGO and lacks social legitimacy. The state continues to maintain an autocratic monopoly over environmental resources despite legal frameworks suggesting a shift toward decentralization.

The research argues that the expansion of jihadist groups in central Mali is fueled by a 'predatory and corrupt state' and a development model that ignores pastoral priorities. By analyzing land-use conflicts in the Mopti region, the authors find that pastoralists support jihadist groups because they offer an anti-elite discourse and a perceived alternative to a state that extracts rent through corrupt courts and a paramilitary Forest Service. The study concludes that recruitment is largely a strategic response to material interests and political exclusion.